To think how lucky we are (after watching film 'Not without my Daughter')

[ISpendFarTooMuchOnFood]

Anyone seen the film with Sally Fields 'Not Without My Daughter'. It's from the eighties but I watched it off Amazon last night. It was based on a true story.

I don't want to ruin it for anyone that fancies watching it but it is basically an american woman who is married to an iranian man (he has lived in the US for 20 years and is a doctor and is very much living the US lifestyle).

He tricks her into going for a holiday to Iran saying they'll come back in 2 weeks but when she gets there he says they are not going back.

Due to the laws of the country she can divorce him and leave but he gets the daughter so she would have to leave her daughter behind.

He then goes from being this nice husband in America to treating her terribly and she is trapped.

It was a very frightening film to watch and I could feel the desperation, panic and fear of Sally Fields who did an excellent job. It very much made me think of woman living in these types of circumstances ie Afganistan and how lucky we are living in the UK.

Anyway perhaps a film that appeals to the more mature lady (i'm in my fifties) but I thought it was worth a watch.

Didn't post it in TV addicts as I thought that was too narrow for what I wanted to say.

Argh you’ve given it all away …. Why not just not describe it?!

oh it’s such an old film that most people know the gist of it!

I’ve never watched it thanks for the recommendation op

Why would we be lucky?
That's not something that happens often.
To spend time feeling, 'lucky', about rarely happening events would be either mentally unhealthy or ghoulish.

I watched it a couple of weeks ago and I’ve just bought the book.

I think the point is that we as Western women are lucky, since this is very unlikely for us. But it's daily life for women in Afghanistan.

Sounds very like Sally Faulkners story, very heartbreaking.

sorry! Didn't mean to write too much.

It's still worth watching though and there is more to it than I have described.

We watched it in Religion class in secondary school in the 90's. Really random . Must watch it again !

you're welcome. Come back and tell us what you thought after you have watched it.

but women live in countries who treat their woman like that all the time.

Yes this was rare in so far as it happened to an american woman who got tricked into going there.

However lots and lots of woman (thus why I said Afganistan) live like this all the time with no rights and no freedom and outright abuse.

We take our rights and freedom for granted but not all woman have it.

The young woman of Afganistan grew up while USA was there and the country had become more modern. They went to school and had chances of careers and had fashions etc from the west. Then the taliban took over in 2021 when the americans left and now they are not allowed to go to schools or work and have to cover up again etc. I watched a documentary on it and they said they had not known a life without the americans being present and were so trapped and depressed at having their lives and freedoms taken from them.

Do come back and report if the book is worth reading once you've completed it.

yes thanks for posting.

gosh just googled that. I'll have to see if I can find something to watch on that. You are right it sounds kind of similar.
Thanks for posting

It’s based on the book of the same name which is a true story. Horrendous. I remember reading it when it came out.

gosh you're right. That is quite random. I guess there were trying to teach you something about different faiths.

Yes worth a watch as an adult if you last saw it as a teenager.

I haven't seen the film but it's an excellent illustration of how domestic abuse knows no boundaries.

The husband obviously masked his character and intentions like so many abusers. Domestic abuse in the States is sky high, they have child marriage and have limited rights for women in some states resulting in death. The fact that he lived there doesn't mean he's less likely to abuse.

I think I might have a go at reading the book now. Thanks for posting.

I’ve seen it a few times. At the start I did feel
sorry for her husband as he was experiencing racism in the US.

Yes I know life is not perfect for woman in the UK or the states. I don't want to say anymore about what happens to her as I'll ruin the film but please give it a watch if you have time. I promise you, you'll be thanking your lucky stars to be born in the Uk by the time you are finished.

I remember reading the book years ago, never seen the film, the book was really scary and emotional.

yes I felt sorry for him too at the start and thought what a nice bloke he was. Sally Fields was really supportive to him when this was happening so for him to do what he did to her but just awful.

another vote for the book. I'll definately have to read it now. I suspect the book might have more detail in it but credit to Sally Fields who did a fine job I thought.

Me too. I read it late 90s, very haunting and his whole family treated her appallingly. I haven't seen the film.

I understand that you're saying that Iran is a terrible place for women, I understand that. However two women a week are murdered in the UK and many more kill themselves because of domestic abuse - they're not lucky.

I was focusing on the point you made about him living in the US for 20 years as though this meant he couldn't be abusive.

I read the book. It was really scary. I think that woman was incredibly brave to escape but it was a massive error of judgement to have gone there in the first place.